DAY 251 -BIG PICTURE IN A YEAR - THE UNITED MONARCHY

by Gillian D'achada October 18, 2021

" BEFORE HIM. FOR HE WALKED IN ALL THE WAYS OF JEROBOAM THE SON OF NEBAT, AND IN HIS SIN BY WHICH HE HAD MADE ISRAEL SIN, PROVOKING THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL TO ANGER WITH THEIR IDOLS” (NKJV).

1 Kings 16: 25-26

Reading: 1 Kings 16:21-28

Today’s devotion looks at Omri, King of Israel. Just when it seems that it can’t get much worse for the kings of Israel, it does. Omri followed after Zimri, another Jeroboam-style king of Israel. What is interesting to note is that there was even division in the Kingdom of Israel as to who should be their king, Tibna or Omri. There was no succession of kings since God had ordained that the family lines of Jeroboam and Baasha be cut off from the face of the earth. Talk about a Divided Kingdom!

Omri is worth mentioning since he was worse than his predecessors. Evil was growing in Israel, while Asa King of Judah showed promise. Omri is also worth noting since he established Samaria as a city. Samaria became a centre of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Later on, in the Gospels, we read of the Samaritans, who were partly descended from Israel as well as other foreigners who were brought there by the Assyrians. This mixed group of peoples became hated by the Jews of Jesus’ day since they were part- Gentile and part-Jew and apostate in their worship of God.

Can it get any worse for the Kingdom of Israel?

Prayer

Dear Father, protect us from evil which spirals out of control. Cleanse our hearts, for the heart, is deceptively wicked. Sanctify our hearts by Your Holy Spirit and by Your word. Thy word is truth.

For the family

Watch this video about the kings of Israel

Kings of Israel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHWt07LrXko&feature=youtu.be